Solidarity against the bully in Davos

Donald Trump's visit this week to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, brought out between 4,000 and 5,000 protesters in Zürich, the country's largest city, and hundreds more in other Swiss cities, for what organizers said were the biggest demonstrations against the annual WEF conference in years.

Below are two statements from the U.S.--one signed by left organizations and publications, and the other by left-wing publishers--sent in solidarity with the demonstrations.

WE SEND warm greetings and solidarity from the U.S. to the demonstrations against Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Trump took office about a year ago and immediately launched an all-out assault on the working class, oppressed groups and the environment. Nearly one year later, Trump's Republican Party passed tax legislation that will further enrich corporations and the wealthy. The Republicans hope to follow up this year with deep spending cuts in programs that benefit working people, along with new attacks on union and labor rights.

The tax cuts were Trump's major legislative accomplishment of the past year, but he has succeeded in using the raw power of the state to make daily life far more repressive in the U.S. Police have continued their rampage of arrests, brutality and killing, particularly of people of color. And there is the disastrous attack on immigrants. The immigration police have been carrying out intensified raids--at workplaces, courthouses, even places of worship. Meanwhile, Trump is trying to end programs to protect some groups of immigrants--such as young people who came to the U.S. as children, as well as refugees fleeing violence and devastation.

Thousands march in Zurich, Switzerland, against Trump and the 2018 World Economic Forum

Inspired by this right-wing attack from the state, the far right has been mobilizing over the course of the year. White supremacists rallied openly, including their mobilization in Charlottesville, Virginia, that ended in the murder of an anti-racist protester. The anti-woman right carries out attacks on health clinics that perform abortions.

As dire as the situation is, we have seen incredible resistance. The unprecedented rallies at airports last year in response to Trump's ban on travel from majority-Muslim countries have not been forgotten. 2017 began and ended with protests for women's rights, from the giant Women's Marches in January to the #MeToo campaign that has exposed sexual assault and harassment and held powerful men to account.

Throughout it all, we have also seen a growing interest in socialism and left-wing politics, especially among young people. This is especially important this year, as November will bring Congressional elections, and the main alternative to Trump's Republicans will be a Democratic Party that was complicit in the rightward shift of mainstream politics. Building an alternative based on solidarity and opposition to the status quo remains urgent, today and for the future.

We stand with you as you protest Trump in Davos--and as you organize for a better world.

Organizational affiliation of individuals listed for identification purposes only

THE UNITED States and its empire are presently ruled by a belligerent and deranged narcissist. A racist. A warmonger. A xenophobe. A misogynist.

We have confronted imperial presidents before, but Donald Trump has sharply escalated the risk of nuclear and environmental destruction. He is waging a far-ranging assault on the poor and the working class, especially immigrants and people of color. He contributes to an atmosphere in which the worst racists, neo-Nazis, and sexists, the most reactionary elements in our society, feel emboldened to act on their hatred.

As publishers of books that seek to explain how we arrived at this perilous moment--and how we can overcome it--we want to express our solidarity with all of those in Davos, Switzerland, and beyond, who are confronting the clear and present danger Trump presents to the world.

We need an international movement to confront this threat. We need to work across the borders and divisions Trump is seeking to intensify and exploit. We need to overcome the fear and intimidation he fuels. And we need to clearly declare our commitment to overcoming not just Trump, but Trumpism, and the conditions that allowed him to rise to power.

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